On one steamy Saturday morning….

Yes, it can now be said, celebrity chef and no-holds-barred culinary traveler Anthony Bourdain was in Manila and I had opportunity of giving him a ‘taste’ of my city. Literally that is.

And the menu I prepared?

Well, that will have to wait till 2009 when No Reservations sees airtime.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak from passer-by Christian Anonuevo (never met before). Lucky fellow, he happened to be a the right place at the right time and took this little memento of me and Anthony doing tusok-tusok of one Manila’s most popular hawker fares.

In the spirit of hygienic sensitivity, I told AB no double dipping. He dutifully obliged.

Oh and I think he liked the palamig.

A smiling Christian.

Who would have known, Bourdain in Binondo? And I know of people who had driven all the way from Manila to Pampanga just have a glimpse of Tony!

Talk about chance meetings! That guy sure was in the right place at the right time. :)

Hopped over from Anton’s blog and read your interview. I’m looking forward to seeing this episode. Hopefully, it’ll come out here the same time it does in the U.S. Glad you skipped the balut and went for the fishballs hehe.

i am green with envy!! i love tony and i record all his shows :) what a chance encounter for Christian. i sometimes do the walking tour of binondo with my wife but not so lucky as to do it the same day with tony :(

omg,i’m so into work and other stuff that i didn’t know about Anthony Bourdain’s visit…:( i so love him…I was even watching his episode last week where there’s this letter sender wanting to see him cook..and he went back at Les Halles in NY,he got pissed actually and walk out of the resto and went back with a chef friend.hahaha…i love him to death.:( i see my husband in him…(well a mixture of pierce brosnan and anthony bourdain…)ivan,ur so lucky…

hey ivan…no problem,actually,i’ve come across you and your site thru my sister,she’s in NZ now,she follows all your tips on great restos,food finds in manila esp. in binondo(she likes chinese stuff,feng shui,did i spell it right?oh anyways, charms and all)i’m never the artist in our family (she writes and a good photographer(pero i was the one who took AB in Comm. Arts course,weird huh?) which is why she chose to live in NZ,kung san picturesque lahat.she has a loner’s life,hahaha,kidding,i love her to death but she really has a simple life basta close to nature and food,oks na sya…everything that i know,partly i credit to her knowledge,kasi i.t. person kaya into blogging,etc.)u are really lucky to really have met AB…i envy you alot…huhuhuhu…..i tried joing Take5 sa travel and living asia,semi-finalist lang inabot ko.hahaha…continue what you’re doing,ur an inspiration,ur really “galing” kasi now people have a different perspective about our culture and food.btw,my husband (he’s american-italian) and he loves Sinigang na Hipon at Ensaladang Manga (un alamang ang gamit)…galing noh?…keep it up!more power!!!!

Saw the No Reservations episode and I must say you are one lucky guy!!! I will definitely try the Dampa experience soon. I’m so touched by how much Bourdain loved Pinoy food, especially the “porky goodness” of sisig (I’m from Pampanga.) and of course, lechon (#1 in the world, baby!). More power!

Sorry, this is not a reply but an inquiry. I got an email from Market Man advising me to ask you the name and location of the small place that serves humongous ‘siopao’, adding that it was in your segment (No Reservations) and not his.

No, we didnt have giant siopaos for NR Phils, we had siopao but just the regular ones. There is a restaurant in Binondo (along Benavidez street called Masuki which serves whats called as Taipao, which is siopao much larger than the usual one.